Kodoku Na Junrei
by Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora
Summary: Shortly after a confrontation with the Nanadaime Hokage and Sarada about his relationship with his wife, Sasuke collapses beside a tree and encounters his father.


_Kodoku Na Junrei_

Uchiha Sasuke was furious. The Nanadaime Hokage – no, the dope – had practically demanded to him why he was unfaithful to Sakura. His _wife_. Sasuke's expression had remained impassive as inside waves of fury and disbelief flowed through him. Sarada had remained behind the Nanadaime Hokage as the idiot continued to yell at him, screaming that he truly didn't understand Sakura's feelings and that he betrayed both his trust and destroyed Sarada.

"I thought you had changed, Sasuke, but I just found out that were a bigger douchebag than I imagined!" Fury burned through the Hokage's blue eyes as Sasuke stood in stoned silence. "Really, teme, did you truly expect me to –"

"Naruto." The icy tone caused the once-dead last to cease speaking. His friend's Sharingan was again activated, the tomoe spinning almost out of control and a dark aura escaping from him. Just as he was about to use his mouth to speak, Sarada appeared in front of the Nanadaime Hokage. Sasuke stared at his daughter for a moment, noting of how much time had passed since he had been in her presence. Her dark hair and dark eyes did not conceal of how much she looked like his wife. He saw the same fearless expression that Sakura had, and almost smirked of how Sarada was like her mother. His wife was standing beside him, confusion and growing anger on her face as she stared at her former teammate.

Sasuke became stone-cold as Sarada pulled out a picture and said, "Where is my biological mother, Papa?" Sasuke felt his breath violently cease in his chest at his daughter's serious expression and the disappointed look on the Nanadaime Hokage's face. "Why did you have me be raised by a woman who is not my mother?" The air was very still. Sasuke noted of how Suigetsu's heartbeat became erratic, but his focus was not on his comrade.

 _My daughter believes that my wife is not her mother,_ he thought.

 _She believes that I would…cheat with…that woman._

He had never hated Karin as much as he did now. Karin _had_ been his comrade...but she had never truly loved him. Not in the way that Sakura did, steadfast and honest and unconditional. Karin...never grew up from being just a fan girl, never looking to see who he truly was. However, the anger and fury quickly disappeared. Instead, there was disgust. Disgust at himself. Sasuke inwardly swayed, hearing the voices outside of his mind. _Ore wa…_ Abruptly, he started to run. He did not heed Sakura's exclamation of his name, or Sarada's gasp of shock and Naruto shouting at him. His mind was beyond such things.

 _What have I been doing up until now?_ Sasuke felt his legs carry him to the forest that he had somehow found himself in. The lush greens and the bright sky above his head did not soothe him, nor of his steadily decreasing composure. He felt his breath hitch. _Sakura…_ The smile that she had given him as she held the bundle in her arms echoed in his mind. _What have I been fighting for?_ Sarada's innocent and sweet infant face echoed in his mind, her skin smooth and soft to the touch as her beautiful eyes opened. _To save the shinobi world…Sakura…Sarada…_ Her tiny hands against his own, gazing at him in awe. Sakura blushing faintly as he lied across from her hospital bed, watching in reverence as they watched their daughter sleep. _Somehow…all of that disappeared._

Sasuke gritted his teeth, the wind brushing through his long hair as he sat down by the tree, his hands hanging limply by his sides. A sharp pain seared through his eyes. _As soon as she said those words…_

"You haven't cried since you were a child, Sasuke."

Sasuke immediately snapped his head in the direction where the voice had came from. He recognized it, his stunned expression stopping the bitter tears that streaked down his face. The voice, commanding and stern to his young eyes. A precious memory, of the same person praising him as he had sought so hard for.

"…Father?" Sasuke was ashamed to admit that his voice shook like a child's.

Uchiha Fugaku nodded. Sasuke stared at his long-dead father, noting of how commanding he appeared to him even now. The kimono that he wore was now stained with blood as it had been that night, and Sasuke observed of how as dead, his father appeared more at peace than when he was alive. If he had appeared closer, the younger son would have noted of how he was taller than Uchiha Fugaku now.

"Why do you cry, Sasuke?" For a moment Sasuke didn't respond. His eyes could not meet his father's, and he found it hard to speak.

"My Hokage and best friend…" he whispered in a monotone. He was vaguely aware of his nails digging into his palms and his hands whitening. "And my daughter believe that I have been unfaithful to my wife…and that Sakura is not her mother."

Fugaku listened. Like both his sons, he was very capable of masking his emotions. However, Sasuke noted of how his eyes hardened. "Sasuke…I know that I have not known you as an adult, and not even as and adolescent…but I know that you love the woman you chose as your wife. If they cannot see the truth in front of their eyes, they must be blind."

"I do not blame Sarada for hating me." Fugaku was shocked to find his younger son with a somber expression across his face. "I have been only nameless and faceless to her, and have not seen her since the day she was born." Emptiness echoed in his eyes. "I have fought and lived a life I did not begin myself to imagine I would lead because…I wanted to protect them." Tears like silver streaked from his eyes. "It is my fault that she doubts my love for Sakura…my love for her as well." Suddenly, a hoarse whisper coming from a broken man was spoken. "What is the point of protecting those closest to your heart if they do not believe in you?"

"Sasuke." The man stared at his father, stern before him as he had been when Sasuke was a child. "You are a shinobi. You are a shinobi who makes others pale before them. Not anyone can do what you have done." His dark-coal eyes were bright with pride. "I doubt the Yondaime Hokage could have completed an action such as this."

"Father…" Sasuke breathed.

"You have sacrificed your happiness that others could be happy, and ensured a peaceful future for generations. Unlike your Hokage, who basks in the sunlight and can be seen as a hero, you have shielded by the darkness and erase the shadows." A smile appeared on Uchiha Fugaku's face. "That is what a shinobi is. A person who does not reside in glory, but shields the darkness in silence. I understand that now." He commanded Sasuke to rise.

Sasuke was unprepared to see his father smile. Something shook inside him – an unknown emotion – surged within him as he saw his father fading away and as he side this.

"You remind me of Itachi, Sasuke. Your journey of solitude… _omae no kodoku na junrei..._ ends now, my son. Tell your daughter the truth. She will believe you. You are a better father than I was to you." Fugaku held his hand to silence Sasuke's protests.

A whisper echoed across his lips. "I am so very proud…that you are my son."

The wind brushed across Sasuke's face, and his eyes widened at the parting words his father had given him.

 _Father…_


End file.
